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Strengthening Strategic Alignment through IT Governance: An Evaluation of

Infosys Technologies

Venkata Sai Ram Kowdi

Department of Information Technology, Westcliff University.

Professor Moice Dixon

Introduction

In the digital era, aligning business goals with IT capabilities has become a vital function

for technology and business leaders. IT has evolved to not just become a supportive function but

it plays a crucial role in business operations. In a business like Infosys, technology is a core part

of both client facing services and internal operations which makes IT a crucial part.

Infosys is known for its global footprint and integration of different information systems.

Most importantly, the company relies on IT to maintain competitive advantage. Business leaders

can benefit from structured IT governance frameworks and they make sure IT investments are

strategically aligned with business goals. To aid with this process frameworks such as COBIT

(Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies), ITIL (Information Technology

Infrastructure Library) and the SAM (Strategic Alignment Model) provides structured approach

to bridge the gap between business and IT delivery.

This paper evaluates the current Infosys IT strategy, explores gap and improvement

opportunities for better alignment and which framework is suitable for maximum value addition.

The paper also provides strategic recommendations for leadership regarding long term digital

transformation goals to highlight governance and continuous improvement.

Overview of Infosys’ IT Strategy

Infosys is a leading global IT consulting and services company that is headquartered in

Bangalore, India. It is highly reputed for end-to-end business transformation solutions across

industries and has numerous clients. The business strategy is to integrate next generation

technologies into client centric service delivery to remain competitive among other IT service

providers. To implement this strategy Infosys has invested heavily in the domains of automation,

cloud computing, AI/ML and cybersecurity.

The company has a robust internal IT ecosystem that is led by agile development, remote

collaboration, enterprise wide knowledge sharing and availability. This allows Infosys to deliver

IT solutions efficiently while maintaining a high level of client satisfaction and operational

resilience. However, the IT space rapidly evolves which requires continuous improvement by

companies to remain relevant. The current emerging client demand and geopolitical uncertainties

requires Infosys to reassess and realign its IT resources.

According to Infosys annual reports and strategic disclosure, the organization employs a

decentralized IT model. This model suggests each business unit operate separately in terms of IT

decision making. This model has advantages such as flexibility and speed by taking decisions

independently. However, the major problem would be duplicate technology efforts, conflicting

priorities and inconsistent technology standards. This would hinder the organizations growth

towards becoming a service centric technological leader. In such environments, strategic

alignments between IT and business objectives is crucial. Without this, the IT decisions would be

fragmented which affects service quality delivery and long-term innovation goals.
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The Value of Implementing IT Governance Frameworks

The adoption of IT governance frameworks play a vital role in helping Infosys bridge

gaps between IT operations and business objectives. According to ISACA (2020), effective IT

governance ensures that information and technology would help achieve appropriate business

goals, manage risks and maximize value. In a complex organization like Infosys, governance

structure should be centralized and remain consistent across different teams to promote

transparency and accountability in IT decisions.

Frameworks that help remain centralized are COBIT 2019 which would offer a

comprehensive governance model that combines performance metrics, assessments and

alignment goals to guide IT investments and operational decisions. COBIT also promotes clear

accountability decisions which also includes formalized IT roles. Governance objectives like

Managed Strategy and Managed Risk would help Infosys to evaluate their current situation and

future technology initiatives which contribute to long-term business goals. COBIT goals cascade

model ensures IT activities right from the project selection to daily operations are linked with

business priorities. For example, COBIT would help Infosys during market research and

expansion by evaluating business goals and risk appetites as a criteria.

In addition to COBIT, adopting ITL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library)

would further improve IT service management practices. ITIL's primary goal is to match IT

services with business expectations through well defined processes like incident management,

problem resolution, change control and service delivery management. Since, Infosys provides

critical IT outsourcing services to companies that are present globally, ITIL principles would

help with this process by improving operational efficiency and reducing service disruptions for
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faster ticket resolution. Thus, impacting positively client satisfaction and trust to protect the

company's reputation in a competitive market space.

Through the integration of COBIT and ITIL into Infosys governance ecosystem, the

company can create a robust framework that focuses on value delivery, improves customer

satisfaction while aligning business goals with IT management.

Improving Operational Excellence through Governance Systems

Structured IT governance plays a crucial and critical role in driving operational

excellence. A structured approach would improve transparency and help in gathering measurable

performance outcomes. Global IT firms such as Infosys would benefit from consistent service

delivery, improved risk management and enhanced productivity.

A tool that can drive this change is Strategic Alignment Model (SAM). This framework

aligns IT initiatives with business goals through four interrelated domains: business strategy, IT

strategy, organizational infrastructure, and IT infrastructure. These domains when worked

together and have a tight bound through communication they will help to transform digital space,

innovation and client centric delivery. Infosys multi-client, multi-platform environment would

help make decisions regarding technology stacks and delivery tools to align and become

favorable across diverse markets and to meet client demands.

Infosys could implement the Strategic Alignment Maturity Model (Luftman, 2000). This

model would first assess organizations’ current alignment capabilities across all different

dimensions required in a business: communication, competency measurement, government

structure and skills development. A real life example would be if the maturity assessment reveals

silos in communication between IT and business units or shows an inconsistent criteria to

evaluate IT success, Infosys could take targeted interventions to close these gaps in

communication and business needs. These benchmarks created to remain relevant in the industry

would help Infosys to prioritize governance enhancements and stay competitive in a

fast-evolving landscape.

By integrating Sam and maturity models into the strategic planning, Infosys will be able

to leverage its IT capabilities completely and in line with business needs.

Aligning IT Strategy with Business Vision: A Leadership Recommendation

To achieve a sustained strategic alignment, Infosys must integrate IT governance into the

core of its decision making processes. The first step to start this change is to enable the IT

strategy committee at the board level. This ensures technology would be a primary part of

executive discussions which is essential to align with business goals. Governance methods

should be developed and tailored according to different use cases with the help of COBIT2019

and should be implemented enterprise wide. These frameworks would help evaluating and

monitoring IT performance to align with organizations objectives.

Infosys should shift the role of IT from traditional support to business goals to become a

vital part that goes hand in hand. This increases client satisfaction by reducing service delivery

time and aid high adaptation. IT leaders should be actively involved in strategic planning

decisions and not just during the execution. Furthermore, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

should be used to design business and IT contributions to share accountability for growth,

innovation and efficiency.

A major key point is that technological changes are not sufficient. Cultural structural

transformation is equally essential to help Infosys business leaders to help develop a culture that

focuses on continuous collaboration between business units and teams. This can be supported by

integration of tools such as real time dashboards to monitor progress and cross-functional

governance to resolve conflicts and help enterprise projects.

To build long-term governance capabilities, Infosys should invest in training programs

and certifications to the IT professionals. These certifications can be from different governance

frameworks such as COBIT, ITIL and industry recognized standard certifications such as CGEIT

(Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT). Ups killing in these areas would have a great

impact in governance.

As highlighted by ThoughtExchange(2022), effective strategic alignment should be

rooted in leadership commitment and broad organisational engagement. With the right

framework and well defined governance process, the talent would be present in the right place.

Infosys will be able to utilize the IT resources effectively and grow the company towards its

strategic vision.
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Conclusion

Infosys should make an informed investment in strengthening its IT governance

capabilities to ensure they are towards long-term alignment. To achieve this change, IT training

and business certifications from COBIT and ITIL would present required skills for decision

making and service delivery. These investments would build a governance-literate culture across

the organization where the employees would understand IT business strategy and how their roles

contribute to business goals.

References

De Haes, S., Van Grembergen, W. (2015). Enterprise Governance of IT, Alignment and Value.

In: Enterprise Governance of Information Technology. Management for Professionals.

Springer, Cham. [Link]

Dairo, M. (n.d.). Benchmarking strategic alignment of business and IT strategies: Opportunities,

risks, challenges and solutions. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

[Link]

ISACA. (2020). Utilize IT governance for stronger enterprise alignment. ISACA Now Blog.

[Link]

nce-for-stronger-enterprise-alignment

Lemon Learning. (n.d.). Strategic alignment: IT governance at the heart of corporate

decision-making. [Link]

ThoughtExchange. (2022, June 28). Strategic alignment: What it is and how to achieve it.

[Link]